


Well That Just Happened

by Acequisitor



Series: Let This Boy Rest [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Anyways other tags right, Family Secrets, Hitman AU, Just a Pan Dispute, Keith Oriented, Multi, One-sided Allura/Lotor, Sloooooooooooow Burn, Slow Burn, When I say slow burn I mean like, keith and shiro are related, not much violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 20:10:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10998120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acequisitor/pseuds/Acequisitor
Summary: Keith's just a boy who needs to rest, yet here we are, with his life falling apart. Or into place. Depends on how you look at it.





	Well That Just Happened

**Author's Note:**

> My new fic ft. A Serious fic I put effort into but didn't know how to give it a serious title or summary!!! Enjoy!!
> 
> Note: I'm really only good with dialogue so there's that

The moon was bright that night, lighting the park as bright as it could during the dusk of night. There sat a boy on a swing in the dead of the night. The swing slightly swayed in the wind as the boy sat there with his shoulder shaking and tears dropping from his eyes. A woman stood in the dark of the shade of a tree watching in agony, only wanting to approach the lonely boy. Her boy. Her one and only child. She knew she shouldn't be here, but someone had to keep him safe from the shadows from anyone who may approach him in his father's absence. Her longing to hold him in comfort slowing cracking at her resolve to want to interact with him. And so it did, in a moment of weakness for his tears. She moved forward, only to flinch back after a leave crumpled under her step. She should’ve been more careful.  
  
The young boy continued to cry until he heard the crunch of an autumn leaf in the distance, starring in the direction of the noise, a tearful face replaced by concern or curiosity. There he saw a woman with short, black hair, yellow eyes glowing in the night. She looked surprised, almost shocked the boy looked at her.  
  
"Hello?" he inquisitively called out to her.  
  
The woman made no movement or noise as the boy slid off the swing and took a step towards her. She only took a step back in reply and a tear slowly slid down her cheek, the moon reflecting light off of it.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, with a worried tone.  
  
"Yes, of course," she warily answered, willing her voice not to crack. He was speaking to her, now, for the first time in 8 years... "Are… _You_ okay? Where are your parents, little one?" was all she could muster, to keep the conversation she longed for to keep going. The latter question being a slip of the tongue, though. She knew the answer to that already. "Surely, they are looking for you." Yes, they were. At least, one was.  
  
The boy's eyebrows furrowed as tears threatened to fall again. "T- They... I don't know," his voice wavered as he mumbled. "I don't think they are... I don't think they can..."

  
"What's wrong, little one?" Again a dumb question on her part, but she still wanted to continue the conversation.   
  
"I'm here because  _ I _ can't find  _ them _ ," the little boy admitted, sniffing and rubbing his nose.   
  
"Why are you looking for them?"   
  
"They..." the boy paused wondering if he should really be talking to a stranger at night at a park. Though, she didn't harmful, in fact she seemed more inflicted than he. "Th- They... Left me, alone, without them… I’ve never met my mum and my dad left me."    
  
"I'm sure it's not on purpose. Surely, you're not alone in such a big world. Don't you have someone looking for you?" she questioned, her voice quivering, strung with emotions on her child's words on what happened to him.   
  
"My grandparents and my..." he stopped for a second to contemplate his relation to the other one he knew. "Uncle... Brother?” he paused again only to correct himself, “My Shiro."   
  
She let a chuckled slip, "Uncle brother?"   
  
The corner of his mouth twitched into a smile, "Well... he's my uncle, but I don't think he's old enough to be."   
  
"Not old enough to be?"   
  
"He's only 5 or 6 years older than me, I don't think he's an adult, yet. He's more of a brother to me,” he answered then looked then clenched his fist and proclaimed, “He’s no uncle or brother... You see, he's special to me. He doesn't need to be my uncle or brother, really. Just Shiro. There's no other Shiro in the world like him!” 

 

She beamed at him, "I see. So, see, you're not alone. You have family to look after you," she answered as she knelt in front of him to pat his head. "Shouldn't you be with them?"   
  
"Maybe... But, not yet..." he shook his head.   
  
"Why not?"   
  
He looked around and then back to the woman and waved her closer to whisper in her ear, "I'm looking for something."   
  
"Looking for what?" she whispered back, curious.   
  
"A star!" he chuckled as he stepped back away and looked to the sky.   
  
"Wow! A star?" she grinned and looked up with him in amusement.

  
"Not just any star!" he declared, "a shooting star!"  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"I wanna make a wish!"  
  
"A wish, you say? Whatever for?" She was finally beginning to enjoy her child’s vigor to find a star over his prior sadness.  
  
His smiled slowly dropped as he continued to stare at the stars. "Shiro told me if I make a wish on a shooting star, it'll come true."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"And so I thought if I wished hard enough, my mommy and daddy will come back," he sighed and finally looked down to the woman. Tears were filling her eyes. "Are you okay, miss?"  
  
She brought her hands to cover her face. She hadn't cried this hard in awhile, she never let herself go like this. But she felt safe around him, knowing he was looking for her and hoping to see her one day.  
  
"... No," she confessed, murmuring into her hands.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, eyebrows raised, head tilted.  
  
“I lost something a long time ago... A chance. A chance to be with the people I loved. And now it's come back to haunt me," she blurted out without thinking of what she was saying..  
  
"I'm sure it'll be okay, miss," he cooed and pat her back. "There's always a chance to fix things."  
  
"You really think so?" she sniffled, wiping her face of tears, calming herself.  
  


"Yeah! Hey! You can wish on a star with me!" he smiled, trying to cheer her up.   
  
"You'd let me do that?"   
  
"Of course, Miss... uh... Miss...?"   
  
"Akira," she answered.   
  
"Hehe!" he giggled, "How funny! That's my middle name! This must be fate! So, whadda you say, Miss Akira, will you make a wish with me?"   
  
She sighed and looked up to him, wiping the last of her tears away, "Funny that you and I share a name... Sure, Keith, I'd love that."   
  
"Hm?" he asked, surprised, "Did I tell you my name already?"   
  
She took a deep breath, so silly of her moment of weakness to let that slip. "Yeah, you told me when I asked if you had family looking for you."   
  
The boy looked in her in contemplation, "Oh... huh, right."   
  
They looked to the stars together for a good 5 minutes before Keith jumped in happiness. "LOOK! THERE GOES ONE! Make a wish, miss Akira!"   
  
They closed their eyes and when they opened them up, he looked to her. "What did you wish for?"   
  
"It's a secret," she giggled, and cut off when it was cut short by a voice calling out for the boy.   
  
"Keith!"   
  
Keith looked off in the direction the voice came from. "Uh-oh. That's Shiro, I’m sure he’ll scold me for being out and talking to a stranger..." he whispered. "But we aren’t strangers anymore, are we, Miss-"   
  
He looked back to where the woman once kneeled down next to him and she was gone. There laid a red origami crane laying in her wake. It reminded him of the ones his dad used to make, convincing Keith if he made enough they could make a wish, no matter how childish it may be.

 

The breeze of the night blew the trees as leaves fell down where she was, almost blowing the origami away before he picked it up and put it in his pocket. The sounds of rustling trees filled the silence as he continued to stare where she was curiously. 

 

“How did she do that…” he whispered to himself, amazed.   
  
"Keith! There you are! We've been looking for you!" Shiro yelled out as he approached the boy.   
  
Keith stared at the ground and let the breeze move his hair as he wondered what just happened.   
  
"Keith?" he called out, again.   
  
"Sorry, Shiro... I just wanted to see a shooting star again," he mumbled and slowly turned to Shiro.   
  
"Again, Keith? You've got to tell someone when you do things like this. You can see them perfectly from the back porch!" Shiro scolded.   
  
"I know... I just like it here,”he muttered as he looked down and kicked the dirt at his feet.

  
"I know Ryou used to bring you here, but you can't just leave without a word. We were all worried about you."   
  
"You're right. I'm sorry, Shiro. Wanna go back, now?" he looked up, trying his card at puppy dog eyes in hope Shiro wouldn't give him as much an overprotective scolding as he usually does.

 

"Yeah…” Shiro sighed,”I can't say no to that face… we’ll talk later, let's go, kiddo," Shiro replied, ruffling up the little boy’s hair.

 

“When we get home can you show me how to make those paper cranes again?” Keith asked, hopeful.

 

Shiro chuckled and picked Keith and put him on his shoulders before answering, “Yeah, man, just let me get my science project done. What's got you so interested in them again?”

 

"Nothin- Ah!" Keith cried, laughing as he was positioned on the older boy’s shoulders. “But-! So then-! I collect them and you can help me make a thousand!” Keith cheered.

 

“Oh, that legend?” He asked and Keith nodded profusely. “Whatever you wanna do, Keith, of course,’ Shiro grinned as they trudged their way back to their house.

 

“Alright! I'm gonna make a thousand and get my wish granted!” he cheered.

 

Only laughter echoed through the night and a Akira was left standing in the park alone looking out to where her son and brother-in-law walked off to.

 

"I'm sorry, Keith. Just wait a little longer for mommy..."  Akira whispered from the shadows to her son, knowing he couldn't hear her.   
  
  


\----------------

 

 

Keith woke up, mid-afternoon, head throbbing as he sat up too quickly and the sun shone in his eyes. He raised a hand to cover his face and attempted to grab around for his phone.

 

“Fuck, it's 1:00 already,” he groaned and he turned and plopped his face back into his pillow.

 

He had that dream again... Back when his dad first disappeared and he was living with Shiro and his grandparents and met that strange woman.

 

He laid there for a good 3 minutes before slowly sliding out of his bed, wrapped in covers onto the floor next to his computer. No new email. Gee, that's always a good sign. His phone didn’t say he had any missed calls either.

 

The night before he’d sent in at least 10 applications to all the hiring places within the area he could, before, you know, he got himself drunk and passed out (thankfully in his bed this time, we didn’t need a repeat of last time). He’d just been laid off from the last job he had for ‘disciplinary issues’, and now he's barely meeting each bill while he waits for any chances for an interview.

 

He sighed, dejected and finally unwrapped himself from his blankets and got up to get ready for the day. No reason to get ready, really, just for whatever the day may bring considering he literally had nothing to do. Today wasn't a gym day, either. Maybe he’d go for a run later.

 

Before he got ready he walked over to his kitchen table and folded a pair of cranes and placed them next to each other, next to a few more. Apparently, drunk Keith had a thing for making origami. Not that he was complaining. He needed all the luck he could get, so he’d hang some of them up sometime later. No time like the present to help yourself get a wish out of paper cranes.

 

After having showered and dressed he checked his email just one more time. Surprisingly there was one new one. He was expecting some “I’m sorry, you're not what we’re looking for” reply to an application but there he was. Reading an email with the subject “Follow up interview information”. 

 

It was from some bar he’d filled out down the road. Like “All Tea” or something like that. He wasn't familiar in the pronunciation but it was a place to work. If he was correct they were partnered with some kind of family owned bakery at the end of town, so maybe he'd get an employee discount on good sweets, at least.

 

He replied to the email and within a couple of minutes he had an interview scheduled for later at night. Maybe he did get lucky today. He'd make sure to give a shout out to the cranes later. If he couldn't make a thousand at least they were lucky. 

 

In the meantime, he'd have to work this nasty hangover off, somehow.

 

\---

 

After about 5 hours spent trying to work off his hangover, he was successful but had to hurry on his way to his interview.

 

Strangely, when he arrived the bar it appeared closed. He pulled his phone out and checked the email once more to confirm he was having one today, a couple minutes ahead. The store hours on the front door said they’d usually be open by now. 

 

He looked around before pushing the door, checking to see if it was unlocked, and it was? No lights were on or anything. Maybe someone closed up shop and forgot to lock the doors?

 

He took a step in and turned his phone’s flashlight on. The place looked absolutely deserted. Not even the chairs or bar stools were put down. There was some rustling coming from the back of the restaurant and he flashed light in the direction. To be honest he felt this was on some horror movie shit and he was about to be that stupid person who walks into the kitchen to get killed.

 

He crept closer to the kitchen door and heard more noise and some mumbling.

 

“Who..?”

 

“.... didn't lock…”

 

“... you kidding me, L…”

 

“... not my fault!”

 

Keith paused before trying to squint to look at his surroundings. It was very ominous.

 

“Hello? Anyone there!” he called out to the voices, hoping someone could explain what was going on.

 

“Crap!”

 

“I told you I heard something!”

 

The voices whispers got louder after he called out.

 

Keith stated, walking closer to the door, “I’m Keith? I can come back later. No issue to me.”

 

“I don't know a Keith!”

 

“Me neither! Is he taunting us?”

 

“What do we do?! Are they back for their agent?!”

 

Their whispers weren't much whispers are this point, it was just mostly just panicked voices.he didn't know what agent they were talking about but if he was one he wasn't sure why one would be here. Maybe they're talking about an insurance agent or possible agent for a company they trade with. Maybe they were closed for a meeting with an agent?

 

“I got this!”

 

“Woah, wait-”

 

“TAKE THIS GALRA SCUM!” came voice yelling at him.

 

“Wha-” Keith squealed (if someone asked him later he'd deny having done it) before someone busted through the kitchen door with a pan and it met his face. Ultimately, he blacked out on a bar floor in a way he never imagined was possible.

 

\---

 

Keith sat on a swing, at the park he always came to when he’d needed to get away or have some alone time. He had his head held low with his face buried in his hands. Someone came up behind him and pat him on the back and he jumped. He looked behind him and saw Shiro.

 

“Where are you parents, kiddo? I don't think they should just let their kid wander around alone without supervision,” Shiro joked.

 

“ _ Haha _ ,” he bit back, resting his head back in his hands.

 

“Rough day?” Shiro asked, walking around to sit in the swing next to him.

 

“No, I just come here to look at the scenery and hear kids be obnoxious,” he replied sarcastically.

 

“Wanna talk about it?”

 

“I would say no but I have the feeling you’re going to coax it out of me anyways,’ Keith sighed.

 

“That’s on you, we don't have to talk about it if you don’t want to. We could always just sit here,” Shiro shrugged.

 

“Fine, let’s talk about it, then.”

 

“No, Keith, we don’t have to-”

 

“Well now I want to-”

 

“But you said you would say no-”

 

“But when you put it that way, I want to-”

 

“Nah, nevermind. I don’t wanna hear you talk about it-”

 

“Shiro- I- Geez, well now I don’t know! This is confusing!” Keith grumbled.

 

Shiro chuckled and pat Keith on the back, “You know I’m only playing.  Did you honestly want to talk about it?”

 

“Maybe… I don’t know. How should I put this?”

 

“Having a hard time figuring things out?”

 

“Would you?”

 

“You’ve got a point,’ Shiro shrugged.

 

“I just figured it’s time i decided what I am… What I’m going to do,” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s just confusing me. Everything I ever did I did for my dad up until this point, y’know. ‘Dad would’ve wanted me to study hard’ or ‘He wouldn’t want me to do that’ or ‘Dad always told me this was important’, yet the only reason I have to carry those thoughts on are because he’s not here to guide me,” he rambled as Shiro looked at him empathetically. “But now I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what my dad would’ve wanted for me up to this point.”

 

“I can tell you for a fact he’d want you to follow what you wanted to do,” Shiro offered.

 

“But that’s what all parents want for their kid. I just always wanted to become what he’d want me to and now that he’s not here I don’t know what I want for myself,” he murmured, covering his face again. “Everyone has someone they do things for, even if it’s themselves, yet here I am without a purpose or parents to do things for and I don’t know what to do.”

 

“Your parents don’t define you, Keith. And you’re not alone, you’ve got me and grandma and grandpa.”

 

“But that’s only because  _ my  _ parent’s didn't want me. I wouldn’t be here had they stayed with me. Maybe I’d have some sense of myself if they were here. I just-” he sighed, “I don’t know, Shiro,” he cried. 

 

“You don’t need your parents to know who you are, Keith,” Shrio encouraged and began to rub Keith’s back. “You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are. You’re Keith Akira Kogane, for shit sakes,” he insisted. 

 

Keith raised his head, wiping some tears away, “But what does that mean?!” he challenged.

 

Shiro stood from the swings and crossed his arms over his chest,looming over Keith, “You’re Keith Kogane. The boy who never let his father’s disappearance stop him in life. The boy who, out of spite of me, strived to be better so he wouldn’t live under my shadow in school. The boy who makes little paper cranes so maybe one day he can have a wish granted, no matter other’s tell him it’s fake. The boy who  sneaks out at night just so he can  wish on stars at night when he thinks no one’s looking.”

 

Keith chuckled a bit, looking to the ground at the last one. 

 

“You may be my brother’s son, but who he was or wanted doesn’t define who you will be,” he persisted, “because he isn’t here; and, honestly the kid you’ve turned out to be without him is just as perfect as the boy you  _ might  _ have been had he been here.”

 

At this point Keith had fully broke out in a crying fit, hiccups and all like he was a little kid again. He stood up and Shiro embarrassed him in a comforting hug as he continued to let it all out. 

“I really needed to hear that,” Keith sobbed into Shiro’s chest. “Thank you.”

 

“You don’t have to thank me for something like this,” Shiro weakly chuckled.

 

“But I want to, Shiro. I just-,” he choked up, “God I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

 

“No need to worry about what could have been, I’m here now, that’s all that really matters, I guess,” Shiro patted Keith on the back.

 

“What, you’re getting philosophical on me, now?” Keith softly guffawed (he still to this day will never admit he, an almost grown adult who had a reputation of keeping a straight face and stern attitude, did that) backing out of the hug and cleaning his face off.

 

“Maybe I should make a career out of this and just have you pay me every time you need advice,” he jokingly suggested.

 

“Yeah, like me, a college student could afford that.”

 

“You're right, you need advice like all the time, I don’t think you could.”

 

“You know that’s not what I meant!!” he snorted.

 

 

\---

 

 

Keith woke up with a cold sensation on his forehead and he groaned. It felt like someone was keeping pressure on it, and honestly it hurt like a bitch.

 

“Ugh, what happened,” he choked out. He didn't realise how much he needed some water. How long was he out?

 

“Keith? Can you hear me?” asked a worried voice. He knew who the owner of the voice was, it was someone he’d been wishing to speak to for a whole year and one he missed dearly. Of course, he was tired as shit and sleep was calling his name, so the idea that the voice returned to him (why or how) wasn't processing as fast as it should have.

 

“... Shiro?”

 

“Yeah, it's me, Keith. Talk to me,” Shiro answered, taking the ice pack off and brushing Keith’s hair out of his face.

 

“I had the strangest dream…” he managed to mumble, half asleep. “I was going in for an interview and someone smashed a pan in my face…”

 

“Yeah… that's… pretty much what happened,” Shiro sighed, brushing through the boy’s hair.

 

“Yeah? Well, it's all okay. You're here. Whatcha doin’ here, Shiro? I thought you were missing. Grandma and grandpa miss you,” he muttered, drifting back to sleep by the lulls of Shiro petting his head. 

 

“Hey, buddy, stay with me, don't fall back asleep, we need you,” Shiro mumbled as he stopped brushing through his hair and began to pat his cheeks. 

 

“Nah, I’m sure you got it covered…You usually do,” he yawned and started to drift off before Shiro’s hands moved from his face a new, stinging sensation met his cheeks with a loud slap noise. “What the fuck!” he jolted up, rubbing his face, greeted by 7 other people in a room his wasn't familiar with. He was laying on a couch, surrounded by them and a dull throb from his headache. “What's the big idea!”

 

“He's up!” came the shortest one in the room, who rubbed her hand. She was apparently the one who slapped him awake. “I thought Lance had did a good number on you for good!”

 

“It- No! It wasn't  _ my _ fault! Allura was the one who never told us we had someone coming!” explained a tall, tan man who answered to the accused name ‘Lance’. “I thought he was a galra agent!” he claimed.

 

“What's a galra agent?” Keith sighed, rubbing his head. Shiro swatted his hands away and handed him the ice pack that was on his head. “And how is Shiro here… Shiro… Shiro! You're a missing person!” he yelled and grabbed Shiro’s face in his hands, poking his cheeks as if to make sure he was real. “Everyone was looking for you! We’ve gotta tell them you're alive!”

 

“Yep, you gave him a concussion,” the small one mumbled.

  
“Will you let that go?! I didn’t know!” Lance cried out.

 

“It's a…” Shiro scratched the back of his head as Keith continued to poke his face and looked back to a woman with white hair who approached Keith where he sat. “Long story…”

 

Keith tried to get a good look at Shiro. The throbbing in his head wasn’t helping matters but he needed to make sure what he was seeing was real. First off, what  the hell? Second off, what the hell! Shiro, who’d been missing without a trace for a year is suddenly in front of him with a group of people he had no idea who they were around him.

 

“What-” he started.

 

“Keith… _Akira_ _Kogane_?” the woman asked as she stood before him, hands balled up from after having announced his name.

 

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure you already knew that before you asked me here and someone  _ smacked _ me in the fucking  _ HEAD _ ,” he growled, hands backing off of Shiro.

 

A short girl nudged Lance and he mumbled back, “ _ AGAIN _ , I swear it was an accident!”

 

“You may call me Allura, that's all you need to know about me for now,” she deadpan. “I led you here for a reason, tonight.”

 

“Yeah, for an interview, I know-”

 

“No, that's far from the real point.”

 

“Then why  _ did _ you call me here?!” he snided.

 

“It's time someone explained to you who your parents  _ really _ were,” she answered.

 

Well that took a turn he wasn’t expecting.

 

Keith sat silently to contemplate her reply in shock. He stared at her incredulously, but eyes wide. Then he looked to the other’s in the room. “If you’re explaining who they were, I’m assuming they have something to do with it?”

 

“They're here because of what your and my father started.”

 

Keith paused for a minute to attempt to think of the implication of what she meant but nothing came to mind. His father was just an office worker, he can’t imagine what she was trying to say. And she said plural parents so what did his mom even have to do with this?  “What… What did they start?”

 

“If I tell you that, I'm going to need your cooperation. At least sit down and hear the explanation.”

 

Keith furrowed his eyebrows as he and Allura stood off in a staring contest.

 

Shiro cleared his throat and Keith broke eye contact to look to him. “Keith, promise me when I say you're going to want to hear her out. She’ll explain everything.”

 

Keith looked back to Allura and gave a grunt. “I can't promise you my full cooperation, but I guess I can wait to hear you out.”

 

“Great,” she nodded her head. “So, I guess I should begin where it all started… It all started when one day when your dad got fired…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The second ch is almost done, I might be able to post it Monday or Tuesday! I'm going to animazement this weekend, so there's that.
> 
> My shit doesn't get beta'd anymore so if you see any errors or actually are interested in beta'ing let me know. As always I'm a slut for validation or comments! I've got so many headcannons for this fic, maybe I'll post them somewhere.
> 
> Also my tumblr is: Acequisitor


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